Water Under the Bridge
by averagejane497
Summary: They've got a lot in common, like blond hair and broken hearts.   NarutoIno fic.  Implied NarutoxHinata.   NarutoxIno if you squint into the horizon.


Title: Water Under the Bridge

Summary: They have a lot in common, like blond hair and broken hearts.

Rating: K

Genre: Friendship

Disclaimer: Can't afford a chibi, let a lone the rights to Naruto.

* * *

The jester of Konoha just couldn't find his goofy grin tonight.

But that was alright, no one was going to be strolling along the old Kohaku River Bridge tonight anyway. So, he was safe for now.

Staring out at the water he focused on the round moon's rippling reflection. It was a really beautiful sight. Usually, stumbling upon something as beautiful as the star speckled night sky would be enough to warm the chill in his chest, since nobody could deny him the right to enjoy it, but tonight it wasn't.

Unbeknown to most, the prankster of the leaf village had a soft spot for pretty things, beautiful things, things he was not worthy of.

_Beautiful_ things like Hanuro, Sakura.

The blond boy felt the ice in his chest condense to lead as her name echoed through his skull. Feeling that all too familiar prickling sensation in the corner of his eyes, the boy instinctively pressed the heels of his hands against his eye sockets.

He was not going to start bawling like some little kid, even if everybody was still at the Sakura Festival and nowhere near the rickety bridge he was hiding under. He hadn't cried in a long time and he would be _damned_ if he started up the habit _now_ that he was a full fledged ninja.

"Uzamaki? Is that you?"

_A Full fledged ninja_, the blond boy snorted. Somebody had just managed to sneak up on him _without_ even trying.

"Hey, Naruto, are you okay?" the voice had shifted from harsh shock to something softer, _almost_ a kin to concern. And before he knew it, Naruto felt the tell tale sign of another body sitting in the grass next to him.

Taking his hands away from his face his blue eyes turned to meet a matching pair. He felt himself finch back out of surprise. He wasn't used to anyone being in such close proximity to him.

Pulling back he could see more of her, the light traces of make up on her attractive features, the pale hair pulled into an elaborate bun, and the dark blue kimono she wore. It took him a moment to recognize Yamanaka, Ino.

It was obvious by the way she was dressed that she'd been at the festival like everyone else. It made Naruto wonder why she had left, or rather why she was sitting on a muddy bank beneath a beaten down old landmark with the likes of him.

"Are you just gonna stare or answer my question?" Despite her attempt to retain her usual demanding demeanor her voice was still uncharacteristically gentle. The surrealistic reality of it all left the boisterous blond shinobi stumbling for words.

"I ... uh ... I mean ... just ... What are YOU doing here?" Naruto knew he should have responded with something more aloof or at least polite, but articulation had never been his particular strong suit.

The platinum blond sighed a little before turning her head to gaze out over the water. "Same reason you're here, I suppose."

"Yeah? And what's that?" his voice was bitter and he knew it, yet he really hated it when people assumed things about him. He'd been subject to prejudice the entirety of his life. Usually people only believed the worst about him without ever trying to find out the truth.

"I saw them together too," the kunochi sighed again and turned her gaze back to face him, " and you and I aren't too quiet about our affections, are we?"

Naruto felt his quick-to-blaze anger fizzled. Thinking about how Sasuke and Sakura had fallen into an easy companionship once the three of them had wandered into the festival grounds only made him spiral into another depression. They had looked so happy, fit so well together that there had been no room for him in their perfect picture. So, he'd left the festival feeling cold and more alone than he had his whole life.

How could he have forgotten that the Yamanaka girl had had a thing for the Teme too? She and Sakura had fought loudly and often over his affections. Naruto felt sort of selfish.

Naruto looked over at the girl next to him. She didn't look nearly as broken up about it as he expected she would be. He looked a wreck himself, he was sure.

"You don't seem too torn up about it." The fox vessel felt like smacking himself, that hadn't come out right. " Ino-chan I didn't... I mean ... not like that..." he trailed off lamely. He turned his head to the opposite side, afraid to face her after what he'd blurred out. He braced himself.

Was she going to hit him? He deserved it, if she did.

He looked at her from the corner of his eye.

Ino wasn't looking at him and she wasn't yelling either, something Naruto took as a bad sign since she wasn't the quiet type. She was still a while, looking down at her hands before wrapping her arms around her knees and resting her chin on her knee caps.

"Well, I ... I guess that's because I've decided that I should let him go." Naruto whipped his head around to look at her. Did she just say what he thought she'd said? It didn't sound right coming from someone so undeterred and self assured.

"Don't get me wrong I love him," her conviction made him blink, "I do, but he was just so ... so happy tonight. And that's something Sasuke-kun hasn't been in a long time. You know, since he lost his family."

Naruto's shock was probably written clearly on his face. He'd always thought that Ino had liked the Uchiha for his looks and his popularity since she kept raving about the importance of such things, but he hadn't thought she had ... you know cared about the Teme's feelings. Did Sasuke know she liked him enough to let him be happy, even if it didn't include her? Naruto doubted it.

Just as Naruto was about to open his mouth to attempt to express his admiration for the girl's selflessness, she spoke again.

"After all, it's not like he meant to hurt me. It isn't his fault that I like him so much. That I dreamed of one day giving him his smile back."

It pained him to hear those words and see the moisture forming in the corners of her blue eyes.

"Ino-chan," his voice cracked a little, but he ignored it. He wanted to get this right. "You're a really good person and Sasuke is really, really lucky to have someone like you care about him the way you do. I should know, I don't have anyone who cares about me like that."

It was Ino's turn to look surprised. She eyed him with wide blue eyes. "But you do have someone, Naruto! Hin... I mean, I know a girl who has liked you for like forever, or at least since our academy days." Her arms had come from around her knees and were braced on either side of her as she turned to face him.

The orange clad boy felt suspicion seep into his body and his eyes narrowed. "Really? Who?"

The blond girl was caught off guard by his demand and faltered. " I can't tell you who she is, she's not like Sakura or me. She isn't as open with her feeling, but she is kinda obvious. She really cares about you though." The boy didn't seem too convinced, but before he could cut in she grinned. "Awe, come on, Naruto. Believe it!"

For the first time that evening Naruto smiled and for once it wasn't a fake. The girl did a pretty good imitation of his catch phrase, even if he thought so himself.

"I've got to go home. It's getting late," she gave a half hearted glance at the moon before letting her eyes met his once more. She stood up, dusting off her palms and her kimono as she did. " Bye, Naruto."

The blond stood up too, returning her farewell.

He watched her take a few steps up the bank before she looked back at him from over her shoulder. "Try not to stay sad for too long, okay."

With that she turned to leave again.

"Hey, Ino!" She stopped and turned again. Naruto paused for a second, then smiled a crooked smile. "Thanks."

She nodded, returning his grin with her own soft smile, before leaving the lone village joker feeling not so lonely.

* * *

RANDOM fluff. It didn't turn out the way I'd hoped, but the point was to draw attention to how similar Ino and Naruto are and that a friendship between them isn't so much of a stretch.


End file.
